Nail sets are commonly used in woodworking for recessing the head of a nail below the surface of a workpiece to eliminate exposure thereof and allow the resulting countersunk hole to be filled with appropriate material preparatory to finishing the workpiece. While a wide variety of nail sizes are employed in such applications, generally such nails sets are available in three sizes: fine, medium and large. Such nail sets are typically formed of impact resistant material, such as hardened tool steel, and have a body portion which is gripped by the user, a head portion which is impacted by the setting tool, a conical tip which terminates in a point configuration that is adapted securely engage the nail head while resisting drifting of the tool from head between successive impacts thereby preventing marring or disfiguration of the surrounding material. The nail set body may be textured to facilitate usage and enhance the appearance thereof. Such nails sets are widely accepted and satisfactorily perform the desired controlled countersinking of the nail head.
Within ordinary woodworking tasks, finish nails of vary sizes may be utilized. Accordingly, for each discrete nail head, the installer must select the appropriate nail set requiring the location and selection thereof for each nail size. In addition to the need for a separate nail set for each size classification, the associated changeover time can encourage the installer to continue to use the current tool for the wrong size nail, often with unacceptable injury to the workpiece. Such consequences can be mitigated by providing the nail sets in kit form for easy identification and selection. Nonetheless, a separate nail set must be used for a given task. Few efforts have been made to overcome such limitations. In one approach, an elongated strap member has been provided that carries a plurality of set points. By manipulating the strap member, the desired set point is compressively engaged with the exposed nail head and impacted by the hammer. Such a tool is a marked departure from the feel and techniques with which installers are experienced. Further, the cantilevered arrangement makes correct axial alignment difficult resulting in the set point sliding or drifting off the nail head and damaging the workpiece.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for providing a cost effective and time effective nail set that can be used to countersinking conventional finish nails in an operative format with which the installers and trades feel comfortable.